


if i can stop one heart from breaking, i shall not live in vain

by antigonestars



Category: One Royal Holiday(2020), Star Wars, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Ben is a Prince, Christmas Fluff, Christmas songs, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Han is dead Im sorry, I have fooled you, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, Not beta'd we die like men, One Royal Holiday(2020) AU, Over The Moon references and songs baby, Rey Kenobi, Smut, the title is from an emily dickinson poem, we are having a conversation about grief! and missing people during the holidays!, what do you want from me im a romantic and classical era bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:13:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27823558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigonestars/pseuds/antigonestars
Summary: Rey Kenobi is a nurse at a Boston hospital on her way home for the holidays when she runs into Ben-a young man traveling with his mother when they are stranded by a blizzard. After taking them in, she finds out they are the King and Queen Mother of the Kingdom of Chandrilla, and they are in desperate need of some Christmas magic.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15
Collections: Reylo Christmas Hallmark AU Collection





	if i can stop one heart from breaking, i shall not live in vain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! I'm so excited to finally share this with everyone! this is based off of One Royal Holiday(2020), that movie where Aaron Tveit is a prince and is once again making us suffer with his british accents. anyway, i hope you all enjoy this first chapter!!

——————

  
Christmas was certainly in full spring for how empty the hospital was, most of the senior staff were currently attending a gala, except for Rey. She was finishing her rounds and packing up so she could go home to Corellia for the holidays. “It’s so quiet in here,” Rey leaned up against the counter, watching her coworker, Jess typing at her reports. Jess was a little bit younger than Rey and just starting her career, so she had to work for the holidays.

“It must be because of that gala everyone is at.” Jess rested her chin on her hands, staring up at Rey with puppy dog eyes. “Why didn’t you go?”

She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “And leave you to have all the fun? Not likely—

“Oh, Rey! I’m glad I caught you!” A patient’s wife, her name was Sandra, was holding a red tin in her hands, probably filled with popcorn. “I have something for you, just a thank you for taking such good care of Jack for us.”

Rey happily took the tin, “Thank you! But it’s the least I can do…though I expect to see him up and running laps around the hall when I get back!” Sandra laughed softly, truly grateful for the kindness Rey had shown her and her husband.

“Well, I gotta finish my work, girly, but you have fun! And be safe, I hear there’s a storm a few days out!” Jess waved Rey off before turning to go grab more charts.

“Don’t worry, Jess, I’ll be long gone before it hits!” Well, she hoped she would beat the storm, after she left work, she was going to go home, wrap the rest of her presents, pack, then go to bed on time for once. But New England weather could be very unpredictable, especially during the winter. Even if the storm did hit, she’d be fine, she had a Subaru. Even if it was a ‘hippie car’, (as Jess told her one day) it was incredibly reliable.

“Are you clocking out finally?” Sandra asked as Rey hit the ‘down’ button on the elevator.

“Finally! I don’t think I’ve had a day off in eight months.” Rey flashed her a bright smile, stepping into the elevator. It was longer than that, but she really didn’t need to know.

“Well, I’m glad. You deserve it!” Sandra crossed her arms, anticipating Rey’s scoff. “I’m serious, try to have fun! You deserve to relax!” Was her farewell as the elevator closed and took her to her car.

Relax. Rey didn’t know how to do that, but she did know how to distract herself by working and now she would do it at her grandad’s inn. It was always so busy in the winter and grandad was only one person, he needed the extra help this year since Finn and Poe were on their honeymoon right now.

She still couldn’t believe that Finn and Poe were married, of course, she was happy for them! But she had to admit she was a little jealous that her close friends were so in love, even more so since that’s something she would not experience, maybe ever. The thought certainly made her very aware of her own loneliness and so was Mariah Carey’s ‘ _All I Want for Christmas Is You’._

Rey turned the radio off.

\--------------

“Ben, honestly, you can’t beat yourself up for missing a few words!”

“I missed half a paragraph!”

“You are the only one who knows you messed up!”

“You know!”

King Benjamin Organa Solo of Chandrila prided himself on many things, his impeccable memory was one of them and when he forgot words it made him look foolish. The Chandrilen people were already weary of their new king, he didn’t want to give them anymore reasons to not trust him.

The truth was, Ben was not as warm and friendly as his father, he was not as charming as him or as sweet yet dignified as his mother, the paragon of hopefulness. He seemed very out of place in the House of Organa and the House of Solo.

“Ben, its not a big deal. I think you should try and relax a little. Maybe try and enjoy the drive to the airport.” That was Leia Organa speak for ‘shut the fuck up I want some peace and quiet’. Ben was happy to comply if it meant his mother stopped trying to brush off his mistake.

So, he looked out the window, trying to reflect on his many mistakes during this trip but turned to admire the white blanket that enveloped the vast stretch of land. They would only pass a car every once in a while, but other than that, his view of the calm New England countryside was unobstructed. Everything seemed so peaceful out here, so quiet, like heaven. He wondered for a split-second what it looked like during the spring.

“Your majesties, it looks like a storm is going to hit soon,” General Hux’s voice was even but Ben could hear his worry. The sky proved Hux’s point, the dark grey clouds were gathering together in the distance. “We may not make it to the airfield in time.”

“Try not to worry, Armitage.” Leia sat up straighter, looking out the window at the sky for herself. “Oh! I see a Dacy’s Donuts! Let’s grab some hot coco before we leave!”

“Mother—

“Don’t try me, Ben, I want coco.”

Their driver complied, pulling into the parking lot of the small shop, which was more of a cross between a coffee hut and a Trader Joe’s, but who was Ben to judge? At least there was something out here for them to stop at, even if the sign had comically large letters and a cartoon donut. It was fine.

“I’ll get out, mom, I need to stretch my legs anyways.” And get away from Leia before he was shoved into a tiny plane with her back to Chandrila.

Ben loved his mother, truly, he did. And he had a greater appreciation for her in these last two years after reconciling with her…and after the death of his father. He wished nothing but the best for his mother, but sometimes he needed a break from her and her royal hopefulness.

“Jesus,” the inside of the shop was even more cartoony than the sign. Decorated with candy canes and Santa’s, and a big ass tree in the corner. Not to mention the overwhelming scent of peppermint assaulting him the moment he walked in.

At least the line was short, only a tiny woman was ahead of him. She looked like she belonged here too, a wacky hairstyle of three chestnut-colored buns with what looked like tinsel? Wrapped around the individual buns. He couldn’t see the front of her sweater, but he would bet all his money that it was just as tacky as everything else in the store.

“Did you want it?”

“Huh?” She must have said something to him while he was being judgy.

The woman, well she looked more like a girl, her face round, and eyes so innocent looking as she stared up at him expectantly after repeating the original question, said donut in her grasp with a bite already taken out of it. “The Christmas donuts are buy-one-get-one-free. Did you want my free one?” Ben wondered where she was from, her voice gave her away. She had a softer voice, but her accent was English, she couldn’t have been from Massachusetts of all places.

Ben shook his head, “No, I can’t take food from a complete stranger.” He didn’t know this girl, why the fuck would he take food from her? Even if he weren’t the leader of a whole country, he still wouldn’t take food from a stranger.

She brushed it off, instead switching donut hands then holding it out for him to shake. “We can change that! I’m Rey Kenobi, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Ben.” She had a surprisingly firm handshake for someone who’s hand was being completely dwarfed by his own. Now, Ben could see the front of her sweater and realized he had won his bet, a three-dimensional Christmas tree was sewn onto the front of her shirt with even more tinsel adorning it than what was on her hair. She fit right in with everything else.

“There!” Rey smiled cheerfully, shoving the donut bag in his hands before going back to the counter and collecting her own hot coco. _Fantastic_ , now he had accepted food from some girl with tinsel in her fucking hair.

“Ben!” He felt his mother grab his arm before hearing her voice, “I just got an email from Tallie, she said they made it on the plane and are already on their way back to Chandrila with the rest of the security.”

“Why did they leave without us?”

“Oh, Ben, don’t be like that. We’ll be just fine for another day, and we have Armitage!” Leia was right, they’d be fine. They were in a smaller area and had the advantage of being less known. Its not like they were the British Royal Family—

“Did you get a donut?”

“What?” Ben looked down at the white paper bag the tinsel-haired girl—Rey shoved in his hands, blissfully forgetting for a moment he had been conned into taking it. “No, it was…free.” He handed it over to Leia who gladly took it.

“Sir,” Hux’s nasally voice rang in Ben’s ear, making him cringe slightly. “The storm is about to hit soon, and the airfield has closed. They said the crosswinds are going to make it too dangerous to fly.”

 _Stay calm, Ben, stay calm, this can be fixed._ “We’ll just go back to Boston and stay another night in the hotel.”

“Unfortunately, sir, they’ve closed the city off because of the storm as well.” _Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm, count to ten. It’s going to be fine._ “All the hotels in the area are full.” What was this, give bad news day?

“You can stay with me!” Tinsel-haired girl, Rey chirped, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to offer her home to three complete strangers she met in a donut shop. At least Hux seemed to be on Ben’s side and offering the only logical answer.

“We can’t just go with a complete stranger. We don’t even know your name.”

Except we do know her name. Ben sighed, “This is Rey, she is the one who gave me the donut.” Tinsel-haired girl waved before holding her hand out to shake, stopping short when Hux blocked her way.

“Hold it,” Tinsel-haired girl stared up at Hux who held his hand in front of her face to keep from getting any closer to Leia and Ben. “First of all, you are a complete stranger, and you cannot just touch the King and Queen Mother of Chandrila—

“Armitage!”

“Hux!”

“King…and Queen Mother…of Chandrila?” She blinked up at Hux for a few moments before doubling over in laughter, as if it were so unbelievable for Ben and Leia to be in a place like Dacy’s Donuts.

“Thank you, I haven’t had a good laugh like that in a while…” Tinsel-haired girl held her chest in an attempt to calm her breathing. After her laughter had finally died down, she cleared her throat, “You can’t possibly be serious?”

Hux frowned, “I assure you, ma’am. We are quite serious.” He did the stupid little ceremonial bow and held his arm out while gesturing to Ben and Leia, formally introducing them to the _very_ confused tinsel-haired girl—Rey, he couldn’t keep calling her tinsel-haired girl. “May I introduce His Majesty, Benjamin Organa Solo, King of Chandrila and Her Majesty, Leia Organa, the Queen Mother of Chandrila.”

Rey puffed up her cheeks, blowing out a hard breath, clearly wrestling with her brain after learning this new information. “Well…royalty or not, you still need a place to stay, right?” They all nodded, a little defeated. “That’s great because my grandad owns an inn in Corellia! He calls it the Mandalore Inn!”

“Problem solved!” Leia clapped her hands together, turning to Hux, “If that’s alright?”

“Your majesty—

“Perfect! I am very excited to see the Mandalore Inn again!”

Ben shared a look with Rey, “Mom, what do you mean by ‘again’?” Leia was always telling stories of her adventures with Han, but Ben had never heard about the Mandalore Inn which meant it was either unimportant or not a memory to share with your child.

“That’s where Lord Obi-Wan Kenobi stays now, not to mention, Corellia is where your father was from, Ben.” Obi-Wan? He was a hero, and Ben’s namesake. Not that he really knew him very well, but the concept of his granddaughter standing in a donut shop in front of him and inviting him to stay with her at their inn was more than a little jarring.

“You know grandad?” Rey’s eyes lit up at the mention of Obi-Wan, excited to talk about her family with Leia. It was clear that Rey was immensely proud of her loved ones by the way she just gushed over her grandfather and the inn and it looked like Leia was more than happy to listen to her. Ben wondered what it was like to have a relationship with family members like that, one of just pure admiration and love, no expectations, just unconditional love.

“You must ride with me! Grandad will be so excited to have you all.”

Neither Hux’s protests nor Ben’s grumbling would change Leia’s mind, so the two decided to spend their energy on loading the luggage into Rey’s SUV. Hux and Leia took the back, forcing Ben to sit up front with Rey. _This is a terrible idea, this is a terrible idea, this is a terrible idea—_

“Popcorn?” He looked over at Rey who held a tin full of various flavored popcorns.

“Not at the moment, thank you.”

She shrugged, “suit yourself.”

This was going to be a long drive.

\--------

The drive into Corellia was mostly silent, save for the Christmas playlist Rey had hooked up to her radio for the trip. She was worried her music taste would set King Grumpy off when she turned it on, but it actually seemed to calm him down. Obviously, Rey was looking at the road, but she didn’t miss the way his hard features softened when _‘O Come All Ye Faithful’_ came up first.

Aside from that instance, his face was stern or turned away from her. Maybe he was enjoying the scenery or the music. Whatever, as long as he wasn’t being negative out loud, it was fine. 

“Heads up, folks!” Rey chirped cheerfully, announcing their arrival into the main part of town where the inn was, “we’re just about there!”

She could hear Hux grumble as if she roused him from a nap and King Grumpy murmur a ‘finally’. “Oh, Rey, this place is so beautiful! Its just like a postcard! Oh…I’ve missed it here…” Leia smiled warmly at Rey. She could tell there were some nice memories for Leia here in Corellia, the way her eyes glistened as they passed the church and the park, or the way they’d land on Ben and soften.

The holidays were hard for Rey, she had very few happy memories of the early holidays away from her parents and even fewer ones after they had passed on tragically. And it was hard being in Corellia, though she tried her best to visit her grandad and her friends; there were a lot of memories here that weren’t so nice to lament.

So, she kept her mouth shut and dealt with King Grumpy because she remembered what those first few holidays after she had to say goodbye were like.

When they finally pulled up to the inn, all their eyes were glued on the tall, colonial home. Snow adorned every nook and cranny it could stick to, the roof, the gutter, the windowsills. A fresh Christmas wreath hung at the dark blue front door, inviting guests from near and far to come in and have a hot cup of coco by the fireplace. And outside that door stood a man with a warm smile, welcoming Rey and her caravan filled with royals.

King Grumpy and Hux couldn’t seem to jump out fast enough after Rey parked the car, already starting to unload the luggage. Leia and Rey were next, excited to greet grandad and leaving the boys behind to do the heavy lifting. King or not, he was very fit, tall, and wide and could probably crush an apple with those—

The point was, he could handle the luggage without Rey’s help and grandad was certainly in no condition to help, as he had trouble standing unaided nowadays. “Rey!” Grandad greeted happily, wrapping her in a tight hug. She missed this, she missed grandad and his hugs and his greetings. She was kicking herself for staying away for so long.

“Your majesty,” grandad bowed his head to Leia who immediately told him to ‘knock it off and hug me’ to which he happily obliged, wrapping her in a tight hug. Rey knew grandad was a lord but didn’t know anything about Leia or King Grumpy or Chandrila. It was a little frustrating now that she saw how close grandad and Leia were to each other. She didn’t like things being hidden from her, no matter how insignificant they may be.

“Rey.” King Grumpy cleared his throat, several bags in hand, clearly seeking the rooms where he could set the luggage down. He forced a smile, trying to be kind to his host who had taken him in, “would you show us to our rooms, please?”

She could laugh at this man and how much effort he was putting into this detour, going between being annoyed to trying his very best to behave. King Grumpy obviously wanted nothing to do with Corellia or the Mandalore Inn or Rey herself, but at least he was trying his best to be cordial and grateful that he had a place to stay. It really was very funny seeing people have to get off their high horse.

“Of course, please, follow me.”

\--------

The inn was less busy this year, seeing as they were able to give three whole rooms to King Grumpy and co. Not to mention there were a lot of keys left in their cubbies on the back wall. “Grandad,” Rey rested her chin on the front counter, staring up at grandad who hummed in response while looking too serious in his reading glasses. “Why are there so many rooms available this year? This is our busiest season, where are all the guests?”

Grandad smiled, glancing down at Rey with a mischievous gleam in his eye, “I’m sure your friend, Mayor Tico would be more than glad to share that news with you when she gets here—

“Well, look who finally decided to show up!” Rey whipped around at the familiar voice of Mayor Tico, which sounded incredibly adult and very formal for her best friend since high school, but Rose deserved the credit for her hard work. “Rey Kenobi, I have missed you too much for you to only show up twice a year!” The smaller woman pulled Rey into a tight hug, almost cutting off the air to her lungs.

“Its very nice to see you too, Rose.” Rey managed to breathe out when Rose finally released her from their embrace. “I like the new hairstyle, very befitting of a mayor.”

Rose unconsciously reached up to touch the black waves falling over her shoulders that had replaced the short ponytail and the blunt bangs she used to wear. “Oh, thank you…I like your tinsel hair, its very festive!”

Oh, that! “Thanks,” she smiled sheepishly. “I was going to stop to see Finn’s kids at the school today…plans got a little—

“Yeah, I heard! Got a call from a—” Rose stood up straight, saluting to Rey with an awful British accent, “General Armitage Hux, head of security for the Chandrilen Royal Family making me promise to ‘keep the utmost discretion for their majesties, the King and Queen Mother!’” The two women shared a look before bursting into laughter.

This was nice, Rey missed this, the comfort of home and being able to let go and have fun with her friends. And it was nice to know that even if her friends’ lives were changing, they would still have their moments like this.

“Anyway,” Rose stood straighter, regaining her composure. “I am very excited to say that for my first holiday season as mayor of Corellia, I am bringing back all of holiday traditions from when we were kids—and, and! The Mandalore Inn is going to be Christmas Central!” 

“Even the pajama ball?”

“ _Especially_ the pajama ball, Rey.”

The pajama ball was the best part of Rey’s childhood, everyone would dress up in their pj’s and camp out in the inn’s ballroom and drink hot coco and sing Christmas carols and slide around the dance floor in their fuzzy socks. It was always such an integral part of celebrating the holidays, but after her parents passed away, the inn stopped throwing the balls.

“I’m glad you’re bringing it back, Rose.” Rey smiled softly, squeezing the smaller woman’s hands, “hopefully King Grumpy and co. will be gone so we don’t have to worry about—” She straightened her back and dropped her face, mocking Hux’s posh accent, “the utmost discretion.”

“The only thing we’ll have to worry about is keeping hot coco in stock for the parade and the gingerbread house contest and the pajama ball and the Christmas pageant—

“That’s quite a lot of hot coco, Mayor Tico.” The nasally tone of General Hux sounded at the landing of the stairs, spine straight with hands tucked behind his back, but he looked amused for once. “I am sure Her Majesty, the Queen Mother will be disappointed to be missing it all.”

Rey swore to God she saw Rose’s eyes light up, “they’re more than welcome to stay and enjoy the festivities here in Corellia, General. We are a very welcoming town.” She smiled up at him and it wasn’t a mayor smile at all, she seemed genuinely interested to talk with Hux now that he was in front of her. Rey didn’t blame her, even if tall redheaded men weren’t really her own type, Rose deserved to have some fun.

Hux returned the smile but shook his head, “I’m afraid we have to get going first thing in the morning, but I was wondering if we could talk about the security in your town before we leave? The safety of the royal family is my top priority.” Rey was sure that Hux had already confirmed King Grumpy and Leia were safe in Corellia and had probably checked the perimeter several times before he even called Rose and probably several times afterwards just for good measure. They didn’t need to talk about security at all, he definitely had it figured out.

But she wasn’t going to say anything.

\-------

Rey wasn’t expecting grandad to put King Grumpy in the room next to hers—though she supposed it was more discreet to be away from the usual rooms—still, she wasn’t expecting it. And she definitely wasn’t expecting him to be shouting into his phone, loudly enough to be heard through the walls. “ _Prime Minister, you know that is a ridiculous statement_ —” She shouldn’t eavesdrop on his private conversation, it was rude. She should not do eavesdrop on his conversation.

She was going to eavesdrop on his conversation.

Sneaking out into the hallway, he seemed to get angrier with whoever Chandrila’s Prime Minister was and whatever they were saying to him over the phone. “ _To insinuate that I don’t care about my own home, that is absolutely ridiculous, and you know it, Snoke!”_ He growled at the prime minister, probably leant up against wall, rubbing his temples and loosening his tie—

Jesus, maybe its time to redownload tinder instead of creepily thinking about this guy she met a few hours ago yelling at someone on the phone.

“ _This conversation is over, I will see you tomorrow, Prime Minister._ ” The deep baritone of King Grumpy’s voice snapped Rey completely back to reality and she realized it was time to move quickly.

“Your Majesty?” She softly rapped on the door, trying to pretend like she didn’t just hear a very private conversation between two leaders of a country that could possibly place distrust in the people of Chandrila. King Grumpy pulled the door open, roughly, scowling down at her.

His tie was indeed loosened from his collar and his dark hair disheveled as if he were running his hands through it. “What?” He barked, gripping the top of the door frame like he was going to fall through the floor if he didn’t hang onto it, towering over Rey even more than he had before. King Grumpy was almost enjoyable from this angle, it made her wonder what if would feel like to be—

God, she needed to redownload tinder.

“It’s dinner time, I was wondering if you were going to come down and eat?” It wasn’t a complete lie; it really was dinner time, but she mostly just wanted him to stop yelling. “I think we’re serving lobster mac’n’cheese!” 

“I’ll pass.”

“Come on, it’s absolutely amazing, you’re not going to want to miss out!”

“Miss Kenobi, with all due respect, I am not in the mood—

“Your Majesty,” Hux cut him off, bowing his head in respect, “I’m sorry to interrupt, sir, but I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to brace himself for whatever news Hux was going to give him that would stress him out even more, “yes, what is it?”

“Sir, I’m afraid the storm has made it far too dangerous for us to leave tomorrow, they said there’s too much wind.” King Grumpy looked like he wanted to burst into tears right there in front of Rey and Hux, the news taking a moment to set in.

“So,” he sighed deeply, setting his intense gaze on Rey, “we’re stuck.”


End file.
